Ocean acidity rates could lead to mass extinction

A study led by Dr. Andy Ridgwell of the United Kingdom’s University of Bristol examined ocean sediment to determine how levels of acid have changed throughout history. Its findings revealed that ocean acidity is increasing ten times faster today than 65 million years ago, when dinosaurs became extinct, due to currently rising levels of atmospheric CO2.

With excessive acidification causing the carbonate shells of certain marine organisms to dissolve along with muscle wasting and dwarfism in other species, Dr. Ridgwell said that the rate of today’s acidification is threatening the basis of all marine life.

Dr. Ridgwell and University of Bristol associates, our sincere thanks for bringing to light this important information that highlights our need to act now. May we humans deeply realize that our daily choices affect our future on the planet.

During a March 2009 videoconference in California, USA, Supreme Master Ching Hai once again emphasized the importance of protecting the oceans’ delicate balance, on which ultimately our own lives depend.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: There’s another condition called acidification where the lack of certain fish has contributed to higher ocean acidity which, in turn, reduces the capacity of the ocean to absorb CO2.

And the ocean is a very complex ecosystem where every living thing has a unique function. So, removing even a small fish for humans to eat creates an imbalance in the sea. In fact, we are already seeing an effect of this imbalance on marine mammals.

As the ocean becomes warmer and warmer and more acidic, more toxins are present in the water.

Anything God puts on Earth is for a purpose. We should not kill anything. We should not eat anything except plant-based diet.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/7223827/Pollution-creating-acid-oceans.html
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/nature/oceans-acidity-rate-is-soaring-claims-study-1899536.html
http://www.e360.yale.edu/content/feature.msp?id=2241

Warming oceans are leading to extensive acidification

A recently published study provides the first direct evidence of increased levels of carbon dioxide absorption from climate change that have led to acidification across an entire ocean basin.

Led by Dr. Robert Byrne of the University of Southern Florida, the research analyzed the pH of Pacific seawater over a 15-year period from Oahu, Hawaii to Kodiak, Alaska in the USA.

The scientists found that CO2 levels were increasing down to half-mile depths, with only the deepest ocean waters containing levels that were unchanged.

Dr. Byrne stated that the study leaves no doubt about the danger posed by acidification to the world’s oceans, saying, “If this happens in a piece of ocean as big as a whole… basin, then this is a global phenomenon.”

Dr. Byrne and fellow University of Southern Florida scientists, our thanks for the further revealing of global warming’s effect on the fragile marine environment.

Let us all step toward sustainable measures to protect our planet while there is still time. At a May 2009 videoconference in Togo, Supreme Master Ching Hai spoke, as on previous occasions, of the critical situation of the world’s oceans and the need for humanity’s better stewardship on Earth.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: Balanced marine ecosystems are extremely important, as more than two-thirds of the planet is covered by oceans. They provide half of the world’s oxygen and play a major part in regulating the global climate.

So, life on Earth truly depends very much on the ocean for survival. In addition, oceans also absorb atmospheric CO2 – carbon dioxide – which directly helps to cool our planet.

From the oceans themselves, we are seeing warming temperatures, rising sea levels, increasing acidification and terrible levels of pollution. So global warming is affecting the oceans, which in turn is affecting the fish. This is an equally urgent situation as the one presented by livestock industry, and it has the exact same solution.

Stop eating the flesh; stop killing for food; stop eating the fish. This will help restore the balance of both the ocean and land, immediately.

http://www.physorg.com/news183231158.html
http://www.marine.usf.edu/PDFs-and-DOCs/Quantum_Leaps_Byrne.pdf

Recovery of coral reefs linked to healthy fish

A study by the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom indicates that coral reefs damaged by climate change can recover. Over a two-and-a-half year time period, the scientists evaluated reefs at 10 sites throughout the Bahamas that had been severely damaged, first by acidification and bleaching and then by a devastating hurricane in 2004.

The study showed that coral reefs located within marine reserves had increased in growth by an average of 19%, while reefs in non-reserve sites showed no recovery.

This finding does not bode well for reef recovery as only about 2% of the world's coral reefs are located within marine reserves that are protected against damaging activities like fishing.

Lead study scientist, Professor Peter Mumby explained that certain marine life like parrotfish eat seaweed, which then allows the corals to grow freely and that governments should thus consider expanding the protected areas. He explained: “In order to protect reefs in the long-term we need radical action to reduce CO2 emissions.

However, our research shows that local action to reduce the effects of fishing can contribute meaningfully to the fate of (the) reefs.” Professor Mumby and University of Exeter researchers, you have our heartfelt thanks for your encouraging findings. May governments and individuals alike join in sustainable actions to save our precious marine environments.

Supreme Master Ching Hai has frequently spoken of the need to preserve Earth’s biodiversity, as in an interview published in the September 2009 edition of the British Parliament's The House Magazine.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: No matter how small, each species has a role to help balance our ecosystem, scientifically proven. And yet, consumption of both fish and animal flesh continue and are wreaking havoc on biodiversity around the globe.

In the oceans and fresh waterways, so many species of fish have already been lost, with complete aquatic environments such as coral reefs being decimated by such practices as trawling and fishing with explosives.

The answer to all of this is quite clear. Stop the meat consumption. Stop it yesterday. This will allow biodiversity to be replenished. This is the way we need to go, and fast.

http://www.physorg.com/news182237863.html
http://news.mongabay.com/2010/0110-hance_coralrecover.html

Ocean acidity increases noise levels

As global warming causes the oceans to absorb more and more CO2, US scientists say they are also getting louder, with unknown effects on marine life. Dr. Richard Zeebe, associate professor of oceanography at the University of Hawaii in the USA, explained that the rising acidity from the absorbed gas affects sound propagation, with certain frequencies becoming more intense.

Further increases in both the acid content as well as human-generated noise from ships, construction, seismic surveys and sonar signals could thus severely impair the cetaceans’ ability to navigate and communicate effectively.

Dr. Rima Morrell, an animal communicator and member of the United Kingdom’s Royal Geographical Society and Royal Anthropological Institute, conveyed in a telephone interview with Supreme Master Television further information about how whales in particular respond to such harmful human actions.

Dr. Rima A Morrell – Founder, Living Ark Sanctuary, Member of the Royal Geographical Society and Royal Anthropological Institute (F): Suddenly the ocean which was once a place of freedom is being restricted by these noises and these objects that humans have put there.

And mothers and babies are losing each other, and that kind of thing never used to happen. However, despite what is happening to the ocean, the whales themselves remain very balanced and they are delighted by the joy that that humans get through contact with them.
And that is indeed why they chose to actually come towards humans and leap around and surface there where humans are.

VOICE: Dr. Morrell, Dr. Zeebe and colleagues, our gratitude for this study which calls attention to a new aspect of climate change and its damaging effects. May we all unite in efforts to protect the oceans and our planet.

Highlighting the value of all animal co-inhabitants to the welfare of humanity, Supreme Master Ching Hai has often shared an understanding of the gifts they bring to our world, as in an August 2009 videoconference in Thailand.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: The animals are truly noble, gentle beings, selfless, and in harmony with one another, the environment, and with Heaven. Their role has always been since time immemorial to bring love and blessing to the world with their pure presence.

If we would only stop harming and torturing them and killing them, and give them a chance to fulfill their God-given mission, then our planet will be saved and will be kept in splendor.

They wait on the sidelines in full support of humans, for the day they can be our friends again, truly, not our victims. On that day of peacemaking between humans and animals, our eyes may begin to be opened to our co-inhabitants’ true magnificent roles on Earth.

http://www.starbulletin.com
/news/20091227_Ocean_noise_pollution_turns_up_with_greenhouse_gas_emissions.html
http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/oceanography/faculty/zeebe.html

Damage to oceans on the rise with global warming

A study just released by the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity in collaboration with the United Nations Environmental Program has found that although the oceans’ ability to remove atmospheric CO2 offsets the effects of global warming, its harm to marine life is vast and possibly irreparable due to the tens of thousands of years it will take to reverse.

In addition, the levels of CO2 are increasing at rates that scientists say could raise ocean acidity to 150% by 2050. This process, which also involves corresponding calcium loss, is occurring 100 times faster than any period in the past 20 million years. With no time to adapt to the new conditions, countless species could perish.

Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and United Nations, we are grateful for this eye-opening information about our life-sustaining oceans. Let us all heed such warnings and tread more lightly to help return our Earth to her pristine state.

Highlighting the importance of our marine ecosystems, Supreme Master Ching Hai outlined the dangers they face, as well as the solution, during a March 2009 videoconference in California, USA.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: There’s another condition called acidification where the lack of certain fish has contributed to higher ocean acidity which, in turn, reduces the capacity of the ocean to absorb CO2.
And the ocean is a very complex ecosystem where every living thing has a unique function. So, removing even a small fish for humans to eat creates an imbalance in the sea. In fact, we are already seeing an effect of this imbalance on marine mammals.

Supreme Master Ching Hai: As the ocean becomes warmer and warmer and more acidic, more toxins are present in the water.
Supreme Master Ching Hai: Anything God puts on Earth is for a purpose. We should not kill anything. We should not eat anything except the plant-based diet.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/11/091118-oceans-carbon-sink-global-warming.html